“You're in the drive-thru line at a fast-food joint hoping to scrape together some sort of snack that will keep the kids from fighting in the back seat as you shuffle them from school to ballet to baseball. You're in a rush. The kids are already snapping at each other — and you're seriously not having a great day. But suddenly, when you get to the window to pay, you learn that the car in front of you has paid for your food. The generosity of a stranger lifts your mood, brings a smile to your face, and leaves you feeling as if the world is just a wonderful place to live. Most importantly, this small act of kindness makes you want to bring these same warm, cozy feelings to others.”

Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

378 people got to experience that at one location of Starbucks recently! Yesterday (Aug. 20), a woman at a Starbucks in St. Petersburg, Fla., paid for her iced coffee and then paid for the coffee of the person behind her. This was at seven in the morning. When the next person tried to pay for his coffee, the barista told him that his coffee was already paid for, but would they like to pay for the person’s coffee behind them? That person did, and the “pay it forward” trend continued, with the employees keeping track of how many paid it forward.

By 1:30 p.m., 260 people had paid it forward. The trend continued without a break until six o’clock when someone finally declined to pay for the person behind them (the baristas felt that he didn’t understand the concept of paying it forward). All in all, 378 people paid it forward, bringing a little bit of fun and happiness for someone else.

Have you ever paid it forward for someone else, or been on the receiving end?